The Research Core is designed to provide the long-term infrastructure support that will facilitate and guide a community based participatory research (CBPR) initiative aimed at reducing and eliminating substance abuse and HIV health disparities in the Latino population of Miami-Dade County. Specific aims of the Core include: (1) ensuring that research personnel have the skills necessary to conduct CBPR that will lead to community involvement across all research phases of the two research subprojects of the proposed Center; (2) providing opportunities for meaningful involvement of the community in substance abuse and HIV health disparities research with Latino populations; (3) assisting the research subproject investigators with research tools and expertise for effective development and implementation of their projects; (4) stimulating new collaborative interactions among the two research subprojects, the Community Partnership/Engagement Core, the Research Education/Training Core, the entire interdisciplinary research base at FIU, and other Universities, both locally and nationally; and (5) conducting the two research subprojects that are proposed as part of the Core. These two projects will focus on the social and cultural factors underlying the twin epidemics of HIV/AIDS and substance abuse among Latino populations, the theme of our proposed Center of Excellence. Since the two research subprojects of C-SALUD will be evaluated on their own merits, the figure and table numbering of each project will be individualized and separate from the figure and table numbering ofthe proposed P-20 C-SALUD Narrative and Core(s) sections.